the activities and thoughts of a pediatric surgeon

St. Peter Damian: Rhytmus Sanctae Mariae Virginis (129)

A Poem for the Holy Virgin Mary

1.

O virgin Mary

Mother of the eternal word,

What voice, what tongue of flesh

Will be suitable of your praise?

2.

You new star of the sea,

High window of the heavens,

The ladder, with which you join heaven

with earth, the lowest with the highest.

3.

You conceived a boundless extent,

You found the father;

The maker happened from what was made,

Giving birth from from what had been given birth.

4.

Whom the world cannot bear,

Her womb received all;

By whom the heavens are revolved,

The abdomen of the girl enclosed (him).

5.

Dressed in the form of a servant,

Not having divested your divinity

Indeed it is taken up by you

But it is not sent away by you.

6.

The rising of (all) things is risen,

The ancient of days happens (has come).

The world begins by beginning,

Made from these things, which he made.

7.

Her conceiving was made fruitful,

(Having been conceived he fertilized),

The son (birth) did not injure (violate) (her),

He came in and he came out

But he abandoned his having been shut in.

8.

You are the rod of Aaron,

Dry land allowed fertility,

Which bud you brought forth

But you remained with virginity.

9.

A blackberry-bush was shining light on you,

Which burning was not burning,

As you gave the fruit of your womb 

without the heat of feeling.

10.

You are a virgin before having given birth

But after (having given birth) you are the virgin of virgins;

The completeness of your chastity

Has grown in the birth of the child.


11.

He is the food of angels

Having been (who has been) nourished by your milk;

He who produces the waves of the sea,

Suckles the tastes of your breasts.

12.

You carry your offspring in your folds,

Who holds in equilibrium the weight of the earth.

You cherish him by whom you are cherished,

You serve him by whom you are protected.

13.

Caress, mother, the flesh,

Of him who created you, by birth;

Fasten grateful kisses,

Surround his limbs with swaddling clothes.

14.

Embrace the heavenly (child),

The king to whom you have given birth,

Whom the son and the moon serve

And all creatures.

15.

The choir of virtues trembles,

Him whom cheap clothing covers;

Heaven and earth fear,

Him whom the girl carries.

16.

Squalling in the folds of his mother,

He rules in the throne of his father.

He observes the law of his mother,

He governs the laws of this world.

17.

You are the spring of the living spring,

The rising sun of rising suns,

That book which has been marked (sealed)

That has been given to man the reader.

18.

You are the closed door of the temple,

The palace of the celestial king,

The treasury of money,

Through which we have been redeemed.

19.

The garden of delights,

The odor of sweetness

You are that pasture of plenty,

Whom God has blessed.


20.

From you the fruit came forth,

Who has been pressed in the press of the cross

The souls thirsting of the Holy Spirit

Are irrigated with his wine.

21.

You are both heavenly and earth,

Fruitful of milk and honey,

From whom truth arises

It destroys the doctrines of errors.

22.

From the lineage of the offspring

You draw a citadel of nobility,

Daughter of a king

But mother of the king of kings.

23.

Hail now, bearing virgin,

Hail, full (of) love;

May you deem our hail worthy

As that of Gabriel.

24.

While he greets you,

He changes your name to Eve.

Bring us back, holy virgin,

From where the worthless one has fallen.

25.

You pay, that which we owe,

Turn away, that which we fear,

Bring to pass, that which we wish for,

Carry out that which we hope for.

26.

May there be good health to the trinity,

May there be honor to the one,

For whom the law and order

Of things is obeyed through all ages.

Amen.

St. Peter Damian: Hymnus Sanctae Mariae ad Completorium (124)

St. Peter Damian: Hymni in Natali Pontificum (130,131)